This blog will contain an assorted mixture of whatever that pours out of my mind and finds expression in words.. I love the beauty of words, I love my friends and above all I love the dark pearl of Dwaraka, the one and only Krishna

pachai maamalai pol mene

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

An overview of shruthis.

The
foundation of our religion is provided by the Shrutis and the main
walls of the citadel of the vedic religion are the the Smrithis (to be
discussed separately). The great sages learned the Shruthis from
Brahmadeva through oral traditions and they in turn imparted the same to
the succeeding generations of disciples again through the word of the
mouth. Shruthi is essent...ially
consisting of the four Vedas, Rik, Yajus, Sama and Athrava. Originally
these four Vedas formed a single unit and it would take about
forty-eight years to learn the huge bulk of Veda. This was possible in
the earlier yugas where the longevity of human beings was substantial
but with the advent of Kaliyuga, where human beings had diverse mental
predilections and where the life-span was not more than hundred years,
the long tenure of forty eight years in a lifetime for study of Vedas
became an impossibility for any individual student. Therefore Vyasa
Bhagavan in his extreme compassion divided the Vedas into four parts and
we find them in that shape today. The functions of the Hotha, or the
persons who performs the oblations to the fire during a yaaga, are
narrated in detail in Rig Veda. The functions of Adhwaryu, that is
preparation of materials necessary for a yaga , are given in detail in
Yajurveda. The functions of utgaataa or the person who chants or sings
the praise of Gods according to metres as manthras in a yaaga are
set out in detail in the Samaveda. Finally the functions of Brahma,
the co-ordinator and overseer of the effective conduct of a yajna, are
specified in the Atharvana Veda. Each veda consists of (1) Manthram (
samhita) (2) Braahmanam and (3) Upanishat . Manthraas are
compositions in praise of Gods and their activities. In the rendering
of manthraas the importance of proper pronunciation and accent was
considered vital. A wrong meter or an erratic pronunciation can prove
fatal to the person who chants the manthra and also can affect the
performance of yaaga adversely. Therefore the manthraas cannot be
learned properly through printed words. The authority to recite a
manthra can be obtained by a student only through the upadesha of that
manthra orally in proper accent from a learned guru. Braahmanaas
consist of Kaarikaas or instructions given for the practice of each
manthra and the procedure for conducting the yaagaas. Invariably these
braahmanaas also contain narration of incidents or stories attached to
the practice of each manthra. The Upanishads take us to the higher
plane where the concepts of the Supreme soul, the individual soul,
the travails of worldly life and emancipation from that and other
secrets of the elevated spiritual life are discussed. Smrithis will be
discussed later.